Other Members

Asia Cause Lawyer's Network was envisaged to be a network of Cause lawyers around Asia . Alongwith the Steering Committee Members, we have young Cause lawyers around Asia as our members. The steering committee members identify various lawyers working on the focus issues who are then trained by the Network. These trainees become our members and contribute to the Network.

The present members of our Network are our trainees from the Pilot Training Project on Domestic Violence.

S. Meenakshi -India

S. Meenakshi has been a practicing advocate since 2004. She appears in cases involving women's rights and human rights especially those related to labour and employees rights at the Madras High Court, Family Courts, Labour and Administrative Tribunals in Chennai. She has undertaken activities related to legal advocacy and legal aid through Peoples Law Centre, Chennai since 2005 and assisted women victims of environmental pollution and occupational hazards along with People's Union of Civil Liberties and Green Peace activists in Cuddalor, Tamil Nadu. In furthereance of her interest in Law Reform and legal advocacy with on issues of women's rights she is currently pursuing research project in “Labour Law – A Gender Perspective”.

Pravinata Osti -Nepal

Pravinata Osti is a law graduate currently working as a Program Officer at the Forum for Women Law and Development in Kathmandu . She has participated in various legal research projects on Interrogation Systems in Nepal , Implementation of Security Laws, Juvenile Justice Systems.

Bithika Mandal -Bangladesh

Bithika Mandal is a lawyer specializing in providing legal support to victims of Domestic Violence and has been a member of Bangladesh National Women Lawyer's Association (BNWLA) since 2002.

Kazuko Ito -Japan

Kazuko Ito is a m ember of Tokyo Bar Association and Japan Federation of Bar Association. As a criminal lawyer she has successfully litigated several cases on human rights abuses, in particular the Juvenile False Charge Case "Cho u fu Station Violence Case" which led to Supreme Court decision about due process of juvenile justice (1994 – 2002) and another one matter arising out of a criminal complaint on sexual violence against children (1996 – 1999) which lead to the enactment of “Laws to Punish Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography”. Besides engaging in litigation she has co-authored several books on children's rights and women's rights. She is currently the Secretary General of Human Rights Now, an international human rights organization based in Tokyo , and also holds positions as partners of several law firms.



Takafumi Suzuki - Japan

Takafumi Suzuki is a practicing lawyer from Tokyo specializing in the field of domestic violence, property rights of women, and reproductive rights. She holds membership of several groups and organisations on women's rights. Ms. Suzuki has also authored “ Structure of Family, Violence, Abuse” , Yomiuri Shimbun Publishing,1998 and co – authored several books on Domestic Violence and elderly abuse.

Dinh Thi Mai Phuong -Vietnam

Dinh Thi Mai Phuong is a law graduate of Hanoi . She is currently a staff member of the Viet Nam Women's Union 's (VWU) Law and Policy Department. In her capacity as a member of the Gender Equality Law Drafting Committee, Ms. Phuong has prepared many VWU's Reports on domestic violence. She is actively participating in the process of developing law against domestic violence.

Mae Niña Reyes-Gallos -Philippines

Mae Nina Reyes-Gallos is currently the coordinator for the Feminist Counseling and Legal Services Program of the Women's Legal Education, Advocacy and Defense (WomenLEAD) Foundation, Inc. WomenLEAD was founded on June 12, 2000 by nine feminist advocates with backgrounds in the fields of law and the social sciences. Its programs and services include Feminist Counseling and Legal Services, Training and Legal Education, campaigns and External Linkages, Research, Publications.



Wang Zhuqing -China

Wang Zhuqing is a PHD from Renmin University Law School . She is currently professor of law at the University of Science and Technology, Beijing as well as works as a part-time Lawyer for the Peking University Women's law Studies and Legal Aid Center. She has researched the effects of domestic violence on women and contributed to projects to further gender equality through legislative reform. Ms. Zhuqing has 13 years of experience as a judge and in this capacity heard cases of domestic violence and conducted research on the determination of domestic violence and its evidentiary and burden of proof issues. As a lawyer Ms. Zhuqing has handled cases on domestic violence, developed an in depth understanding of the difficulty in gathering evidence in such cases for the plaintiffs and the limitation of actual law. Her main areas of interest are rights of women in marriage and family, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and employment rights.

Danish Zuberi -Pakistan